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If a child has been expelled from two schools then a state school is legally permitted to refuse to admit a pupil (even if they have a space for the child); in the case of a school which is on special measures then a child who has been expelled from one school may be treated in this way. Because of these rules if a child is expelled from a school then it can result in them being removed totally from the state education system. As a result of this fact the vast majority of headteachers and school governors do not view expulsion lightly.

As a result in the state sector in the UK it is rare for a pupil to be expelled (permanent exclusion is the current term for expulsion). In the UK system the exclusion of pupils is governed by the Education Act 2002, for an overview of the topic please see chapter 12 of A Guide to the Law for School Governors (Community Schools edition, ISBN 1844781216, DfES reference GTTLC2004, crown copyright 2004 or the later edition ISBN 1844785432, DfES reference DFES-0227-2005, crown copyright 2006), The above act states:

the Secretary of State's guidance states that exclusion is a serious step. Exclusion, should be used only in response to serious breaches of a school's discipline policy and only after a range of alternative strategies to resolve the pupil's disciplinary problems have been tried and proven to have failed; and where allowing the pupil to remain in school would be seriously detrimental to the education or welfare of other pupils and staff, or of the pupil himself or herself.

The most recent guidance to schools (Improving behaviour and attendance: guidance on exclusion from schools and pupil referral units: DfES/0087/2003) states that there may be occasions where in a headteacher's judgement it is correct to expel a pupil for a first or one off offence. These include

Serious actual or threatened violence against another pupil or a member of staff;

stealing (on the second occasion), for example, breaking into lockers (in secondary schools)

In practice, a pupil can be subject to permanent exclusion for a total of five outrages against good order at the school. The pupils do not have to receive formal 'warnings' as such. Depending on what a child has done they can be excluded from the school within a matter of minutes or hours of their misdeed. The teaching staff at a school can recommend the expulsion of a pupil but only the headteacher is legally empowered to expel a pupil; the head teacher is not permitted to delegate that power to another person, but if the headteacher is ill or otherwise unable to perform their duties then another member of staff may take on the duties of the headteacher and become an acting headteacher.

A racially aggravated offense, for example if one pupil punches another pupil (of a different race) while shouting some racial slur.

Rather than a single outrage, a long and dire history of breaking school rules can result in expulsion:

Persistent defiance. A pupil can also be expelled for a persistent rebellion against the school rules. This is where the pupil has done many bad things which are not serious when taken on their own, but when taken together, are a serious matter.

Some headteachers are aware that if they expel a pupil for an act of violence against another pupil that the expelled pupil may at a later time assault the victim a second time as a retaliation for being expelled. To guard against this event, the principal may expel the violent pupil not for violence but for Persistent defiance against the school rules as the majority of violent pupils are also often rebelling against the school rules.

Some persons have considered that the use of the totting up process of the Persistent defiance to be unreasonable as often the pupil will have already been punished once for each act, and that the expulsion amounts to a second punishment imposed after the matter had been settled by the first punishment.

The pupil and/or their parents can appeal to the governors against the expulsion, if this appeal to the governors fails to reinstate the pupil then a further appeal can be made to an appeals board (which sits on the behalf of the Local Education Authority).

In the UK system the parents of the excluded pupil are entitled to appeal against the exclusion to the school governors. In addition to the appeals against permanent exclusions the parents can appeal against a fixed-term exclusion which is more than a length of time set down in law (five days). A panel of the governors are required to hear the case and act as a court, the pupil and the parent can appeal against the exclusion either adjudging that the excluded pupil was not responsible for the act for which they are being excluded for or that the punishment is disproportionate. The panel are not legally able to exclude a pupil or to extend a term of exclusion, but the panel can:

convert a permanent exclusion to a fixed term one,

reduce the length of a fixed-term exclusion, or

cancel the exclusion.

The panel of school governors (parent and staff governors which cannot include the headteacher) must meet no sooner than six days after the exclusion and no more than 15 days after the exclusion. This panel will hear evidence from the school which details the case for expulsion, and the parents of the pupil whose future is being considered may also present evidence. The evidence can be oral, written, or even physical evidence. For example, if a pupil is accused of destroying a door, then the broken door could be shown to the panel.

If the appeal to the governors does not result in the pupil being allowed back into the school, then a new appeal to a panel of persons appointed by the local education authority can occur. The majority of the appeals that these panels hear are not against exclusions but are for the admission of pupils into schools. Although the local education authority are in theory obliged to provide education to a pupil under school leaving age (Year 11 and below), in practice (usually when the pupil is denied access to other schools and/or the pupil referral unit) the local education authority employ techniques such as appointing a single tutor for one lesson a week.

However in the independent school (UK) sector, a pupil can be ‘permanently excluded’ at the discretion of the Head, with the interest of the school taking precedence over the rights and interests of pupil and parent. This disregard for natural justice was the basis of the play "The Winslow Boy" which brings into question a system that seeks to protect its reputation at the cost of truth in carrying out an expulsion. Currently, if the matter is not a disciplinary issue, a Head will refer to an expulsion as “a requirement to withdraw”, and is “immediate and permanent”.[1]

Mass expulsions in the UK independent sector occurred with some frequency during the 1970s as headmasters struggled to control outbreaks of drugs usage. For example, pupils at Oundle School may recall the entire school being summoned to assembly one afternoon to hear the headmaster, Dr BMW Trapnell, explain not only why he had to expel almost 10 boys for this offence, but also how none of these boys would subsequently be able to become chartered accountants. Bruce Dickinson is another example of an Oundle pupil expelled by the same headmaster.

In the United States, students have found that they may be expelled, or involuntarily withdrawn, from their schools for many reasons. With public school safety becoming a major concern in modern day schools, it is much easier to be thrown out of public schools now than it was years ago. Depending on local school board jurisdiction, approval from that school's local school board may be required before a student can be expelled, as opposed to a suspension which may only require approval from the principal. Students are usually not expelled for academic violations such as plagiarism that would be punishable in college.

Harassing, threatening or intimidating a pupil who is either a complaining witness or other witness in a school disciplinary case, or making a retaliation against a person for being a witness in a school disciplinary case.

This has been cited by some[attribution needed] as something which can result in expulsion. While it is not mentioned explicitly it does come under defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers or other members of staff. Students are often expelled from school for truancy. In the United States, students under 18 (most states) are considered truants if they do not regularly attend school and can result in charges against the parents. Students under 18 who are expelled are usually sent to alternative schools. Students over 18 can go to alternative schools but do not have to be enrolled in school by most state laws.

Excessive rule infractions. Constantly breaking the rules will eventually result in being removed from school. This again is a case of defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers or other members of staff.

Depending on the reason, some students do have a chance of re-entering the school system after being expelled. Sometimes the student is even able to return to the school that they were withdrawn from. However, if the offense that causes expulsion is highly threatening to others, then the student may not be allowed to go on the grounds of their former school. If the person does, he/she does risk being arrested and legal action against the person.

Expulsion and exclusion are both terms for removing a student from a school for misconduct. The difference is students under 16 years of age are excluded and those 16 or over are expelled, but both are commonly referred to as expulsion. For any student that is excluded, because they are under the minimum school leaving age, the excluding school is required to find an alternative school for the student to attend, or reinstate the student if another school cannot be found. For students that are expelled, the expelling school is not required to find an alternative school, as the student is over the minimum school leaving age.

Exclusion/expulsion cannot be directly done by the principal. It must be done through suspending the student, and requiring the school's board of trustees, or a standing disciplinary committee of the board, to independently assess whether or not the situation is serious enough to justify exclusion or expulsion of the student. [1]